How bhakti-preaching is devastating families
The preacher is like a bull in the delicate china shop of bhakti that the Goswamis built so painstakingly.
The qualification for līlā-smaraṇam
Maharajji answers questions in Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 249-250 Question: What are the qualifications for someone to do this līlā-smaraṇam? Answer: The qualification for smaraṇam is that one should be free from the identification with the body and the senses. If one identifies with these things and does līlā-smaraṇam, […]
Pronouncing the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra
Chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is the main sādhānā in the Caitanya tradition. Incredibly, the vast majority of chanters get the mantra hopelessly wrong.
Śrī Jīva Goswami explains how the relationship between the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa is not immoral
We hear that the gopīs are married to the gopas, and not to Kṛṣṇa. The gopīs accept Kṛṣṇa as their lover, or paramour. Isn’t this highly immoral? Many bhaktas think that the topic is beyond discussion given the conditioned nature of the jīvas and therefore is not to […]
Identifying a genuine guru
Given the profusion of gurus in the world, all modern seekers are faced with a vexing question – how can one identify a genuine guru?
Does Haribhakti-vilāsa state that the guru takes the disciples’ karma?
Some days ago, I wrote this article, explaining that the guru cannot take anyone’s karma. To this, a reader quoted the following verse which comes at the beginning of the Haribhakti-vilāsa written by Śrī Gopāla Bhatta Goswami and commented on by Śrī Sanātana Goswami. sāra-saṅgrahe’pi—sad-guruḥ svāśritaṁ śiṣyaṁ varṣam […]
The guru cannot take anyone’s karma
A surprisingly common misconception among modern adherents of Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism is that the guru ‘takes’ one’s karma. At the time of initiation, the guru is imagined to take on all karma of the disciple, akin to how Jesus takes the sins of his followers. From thereon, the guru […]
The Gadādhara parivāra
The line of Paṇḍit Goswami
śāstriya śraddhā stops beginning bhaktas from committing sinful acts
Bhaktas lack the capacity to perform immoral acts
Who is ‘Sat’ in ‘Sat-saṅga’?
Sat-saṅga, the company of the ‘Sat’ or the devotees of Bhagavān is rightly understood to be crucial in one’s turning toward Bhagavān. Śrī Jīva Goswami explains this in detail in the Bhakti Sandarbha where he cites several verses from the Bhāgavata. Misunderstanding such verses, many think that bhakti […]
Śikṣāṣṭakam or eight instructions of Śri Caitanya
The famous eight instructions of Śri Caitanya
When guru contradicts śāstra
Leaving an inauthentic teacher and path.
The Krishna Bhakti site 